They are watching you...

...and will build the database to prove it!

The Moai and I have a recurring joke. Sometimes I will spot a politician who I despise (of which there is no shortage) on a street or in a car somewhere and I will drop him a text, proposing some sort of terrible, yet faintly ludicrous fate, for that politician. He will then send me a text message back, sarcastically thanking me for getting him on a terrorist watch list. I laugh, thinking that is just plain paranoid and would never happen in real life, now, would it?

The answer, sadly, is yes - it could happen. Because, via a wonderful yet alarming post from the ever readable Mr Eugenides, I see the database is already in place to record all those text message (and, whilst we are on the subject, phone records as well). And that database will be extended to incorporate all internet activity as well. And to top it all off, like pouring bum gravy over a pile of shite, the government will now hold all this information, rather than the service provider. Because, you know, the government has done so well at holding information, as David Davis points out:

“Given [ministers’] appalling record at maintaining the integrity of databases holding people’s sensitive data, this could well be more of a threat to our security, than a support.”

However, the most damning comment comes from Jonathan Bamford, who is the assistant Information Commissioner:

“This would give us serious concerns and may well be a step too far. We are not aware of any justification for the State to hold every UK citizen’s phone and internet records. We have real doubts that such a measure can be justified, or is proportionate or desirable. We have warned before that we are sleepwalking into a surveillance society. Holding large collections of data is always risky - the more data that is collected and stored, the bigger the problem when the data is lost, traded or stolen.”

I was going to add emphasis, but let’s be very honest here, every single comment is both relevant, valid, and (for anyone with half a brain cell and a liking for freedom) very, very concerning.

There are so many points to make about his proposal – it is wrong in almost every respect. But the point I want to make is about what this reveals about the mindset of our leaders. If I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt, then I would say that they are being wowed by new technology. Someone has pitched to them a large database, and they have got over-excited. They’ve missed the point, though, that just because we have the technology to do something doesn’t mean they should. After all, we have the technology to blow this planet back into the stone age. But we don’t use it.

However, I don’t think it is the technology involved that is appealing to our government. Oh no, this proposal will give them even more ways to keep tabs on the population. Because they have no respect that the basis of our legal system is “innocent until proven guilty.” Their approach is much more “treat you as guilty just in case you prove yourself to be guilty at some point.” Fundamentally, they assume that you will use your phone, your text messages, the internet for criminal purposes. Even worse, you might use it to undermine them in some way. The people might be sleepwalking into a surveillance culture but the government certainly isn’t. They know exactly what they are doing. They are keeping tabs on you. Because they don’t trust you.

Well, fuck you, Mr Brown et al, I don’t trust you either. And I’ll be showing this at the next election, as my vote will go to the party that is most likely to dismantle, or at least heartily attack, the surveillance state that has grown so rapidly in the 11 years of Nu Labour misrule.